How do I receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." - Acts 2:38-39

“Repent” here means, “To change one's mind, i.e. to repent”, and “to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).

A person can receive the Holy Ghost before or after water baptism. Repentance, however, must come first before either.

We come to Jesus by faith.

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

By repentance, we turn our heart, our mind, and our life to Jesus and away from sin.

Jesus gave His life for us, because He loves us. He loves us so much, that a suffered and died for us, so our sins could be forgiven. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead.

Jesus did this so we could have communion with Him, once again being filled with His Spirit

A good place for a person to receive the Holy Ghost is at church, when there is an “altar call.” This is a call to those that love Jesus, that want to give their life to Him, and want to receive the gift of His Spirit.

At church, our minds are focused on God. We are in an atmosphere where other people also have their minds on God.

In this setting of prayer, worship, and the message of the Word of God, it is easier to feel the presence of Jesus.

When we go to the altar, we often find others who will pray with us, worshiping with us, and encouraging us as we draw closer into God’s presence.

We receive God’s Spirit when we focus our whole attention on Jesus and His love for us. By our worship and thanksgiving, we draw closer to Him and He draws closer to us. (James 4:8)

It seems when we raise our hands in praise and worship, we are reaching out to Him, praising Him.

When we worship and talk to Him, we communicate our heart and love.

With our mind, our heart, our hands, and our voice focused on Jesus and how much we love Him, the presence of the Lord comes upon us. We feel His love and peace.

Sometimes there is a feeling of humility in the awesome presence of His holiness. Sometimes we have tears of thanksgiving. When we humble our self before the Lord, He lifts us up.

To allow Jesus to fill us with His Spirit, we must allow Him to change our words, our tongue. Sometimes a person will experience “stammering lips,” and sometimes a person will experience their hand trembling as they pray. The important thing is to not be distracted by this, and to definitely not stop praying out loud, keeping our mind on Jesus. (Just as a woman in labor has physical signs as she gets closer to giving birth, it seems the same is true with a person getting closer to being born of the Spirit.) When others are praying with us, they can encourage us, as they recognize from their own personal experience that we are getting closer to receiving the Holy Ghost.

Receiving the Holy Ghost requires trust in the Lord. It requires not letting our pride get in the way of speaking in a tongue we do not know. It requires letting God change our tongue and words, and not us trying to force our tongue to enunciate words when God is trying to change it. We must want His Spirit above all else.

When we surrender all of our self to God, including our tongue, He can fill us with His Spirit.

Jesus can fill us with His Spirit wherever we are. We can receive His Spirit in church, in a house, in a car, on a mountain top, anywhere we are reaching out to Jesus above all else, and allowing Him to fill us with His Spirit.

Receiving the Holy Ghost takes us to a dimension of peace and joy that we will not want to leave. It is a place we can return to. When Jesus fills us with His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, He not only gives us His love, peace, and joy, but also His power to live our lives pleasing to Him. By His Spirit, we can live our life victorious over sin.